This is the perfect main course for a special-occasion dinner. Easy to prepare, delicious, and pretty, this dish is one we often turn to when we want something extraordinary. It’s easy to double, and why not? The leftovers are just as amazing the next day!

How long should my turkey cook for? What’s the best way to thaw a turkey? While ordinary questions like these flood the Butterball Turkey Talk Line® every Thanksgiving time, there are plenty of hilarious hang-ups that have the hotline experts coming back year after year!

As amateur cooks across the nation try to take on turkey, things don’t always end in golden brown deliciousness. That’s why in November of 1981, Butterball gathered their first force of six home economists to answer what turned out to be 11,000 turkey-related questions. Today the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line® now utilizes over 50 experts including Spanish speakers and men – a first this year – to answer more than 100,000 questions from distressed turkey chefs and chefs-in-training around the world.

Here are just a few quirky questions that the turkey hotline experts at 1-800-BUTTERBALL have fielded over the years:

Thawing:

• One caller asked if, after storing her turkey outside in colder than 40˚ F weather, it would be safe to eat. Unfortunately, an unexpected storm blew through and the turkey was lost in 10 inches of snow!

• Some callers have come up with very creative—and questionable—methods of defrosting the fowl, asking the Butterball experts if it’s safe to do so with an electric blanket, in the aquarium with the tropical fish, or even in the tub with their children!

• Hotline experts kindly explained to one caller that fresh turkey does not need to be thawed.

From a traditional turkey to the Lion House’s famous dinner rolls, we’ve included everything you need for your family’s traditional dinner. Happy Holidays!

Snow-Whipped Potato Boats

6 large baking potatoes

3 slices bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

4 green onions, chopped

1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Wash potatoes and rub skins with vegetable oil. Bake for 1 hour, or until potatoes are fork-tender. Remove potatoes from oven and reduce oven heat to 350ºF. Cut a slice from top of each potato and scoop out pulp. In a medium bowl mash pulp with a fork, then stir in sour cream, milk, salt, pepper, and green onions. Whip until fluffy. Fill potato shells with mixture and sprinkle with grated cheese and crumbled bacon. Bake 10 minutes. Makes 6 servings.